Hakone was a real highlight and full of new experiences for us both. We stayed in a ryokan (Japanese style inn) with tatami mat floors and futon we had to roll out at night. The hotel was fantastic; the food was amazing (more on that later) and we treated ourselves to a private onsen (hot spring bath) on our balcony which was so much fun.
I'll split the blog into two, one about what we saw in Hakone and one about the ryokan and the food. First; Hakone!
We decided to follow the Hakone circle route that we'd read about. First we headed up the Hakone cablecar which was actually a single track with two trains on it which were pulled up the mountain by cables. Halfway up there was a passing place where the two trains passed each other. We were easily the youngest people on it, crammed in with loads of old Japanese people. Even I was taller than most of them. After the cablecar we stepped on the ropeway (a gondola style ski lift, which I'm more used to) which was a bit more comfortable.
As the ropeway car climbed higher, the scenery got really dramatic. We got some pretty great views of Hakone town and the sea behind it:
We also went over the top of the volcanic area where they pump onsen water from. James named it Mordor.
Then the ropeway went over a peak and we had our first rather dramatic glimpse of Fuji-san. It was a stunning view, such a clear day and the only clouds in the sky were clustered around Fuji.
After oohing and ahhing over Fuji-san for a while, we headed up to Owakudani where there is volcanic activity and they famously cook the black eggs.
It was quite a steep climb up some steps to the area. Along the way were signs warning of the acids in the air and what damage it could do to your health. They mentioned asthma attacks as a side effect, which was nice. We continued up anyway.
On the way was this rather stunning view (I can never get sick of photos of mount Fuji). On the rocks you can see the sulphur deposits.
Once at the top, in clouds of steam and, I guess, acid, we saw a guy cooking the eggs in the water that collects:
I don't think health and safety is a big thing over here. We were warned to not stay around the vents for more than 30 minutes, but this guy works here?
James bought his black eggs. Ew.
Something that you cannot escape at Japanese tourist sights is Hello Kitty. There are Hello Kitty phone charms for every Japanese thing you can possibly think of. So James decided to eat his black egg beside the black egg Hello Kitty. Makes sense, really.
Om nom nom.
Turns out Hakone isn't just known for its black eggs, but also it's parquetry. Like parquet floors, you know, wood and stuff. So, of course, there's a parquetry Hello Kitty.
After that, we realised we'd better get a move on and headed down to Lake Ashi. A really large lake with, for some reason, pirate ships.
We hopped on one (it was really bloody cold) and were taken to the other side of the lake. From there we wandered about, saw some pretty views of Fuji, pirate ships and torii from across the lake.
We then walked along a cedar avenue towards the red torii in the above photo. It was such a pretty walk.
We then realised the sun was starting to set and it was getting cold, so we hurried to Hakone Temple at dusk.
This is the red torii from a few photos ago:
And then it got cold and dark and we got the bus home (although we got off a stop early and had to walk for 20 minutes in the dark around some windy mountain roads. Character building stuff).
The next day we were due to head back to Tokyo. After checking out we left our bags at the hotel and went to see a pretty garden at a near by Art Museum. It was a moss garden so, instead of grass, there was moss. It was so pretty and lovely to walk around. We caught the very very end of the autumn colours as the last few trees were dropping.
And then we returned to Tokyo. More on food and the ryokan later!
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